1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a technology for easily providing the relation between elements while reflecting the intent of user as much as possible, in a graphics editing technology for performing the system development or the like in a visual environment using graphics. More particularly, the present invention relates to a computer readable recording medium with graphics editing program and a graphics editing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a UML (Unified Modeling Language) tool as a graphics editor has been widely used, for performing efficiently the system development or the like in a visual environment. The UML tool provides functions of preparing and editing, as a fundamental design diagram of a system, a use-case diagram, an activity diagram, a state machine diagram, a sequence diagram, a class diagram and the like, in each of which various elements are connected to each other depending on the relation thereof. In an operation of the UML tool, since the relation between elements need to be provided by associating the elements, after the elements are arranged, it is necessary to designate two elements using an input device such as a mouse or the like, to provide the relation between the two elements. Therefore, in order to easily provide the relation between elements, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-325690, there has been proposed a technology for identifying an element which is present within a predetermined distance from a new arranged element, to automatically provide the relation between these elements by association.
However, in the conventionally proposed technology, the relation between the elements is provided by associating the elements with one another, based on the distance relation between these elements. Therefore, when the association is made between elements which are apart in distance from each other, there is a possibility that the intention of user is not necessarily reflected. As a specific example thereof, in the process of preparing a flowchart, if an element indicating one of processings branched in the determination processing is arranged in the vicinity of an element indicating the other processing, the association is made between these elements.
The present invention has been accomplished with a view to solving the above problem in the conventional technology and has an object to provide a graphics editing technology capable of easily providing the relation between elements while reflecting the intent of user as much as possible, by utilizing an actual condition in that a series of relational elements is arranged successively in time to provide the relation between the elements according to the time relation thereof.